Players in the health and environment sectors have expressed concern that the country is in the wrong footing when it comes to electronic waste disposal and management.
The stakeholders say that though the government has been keen on dealing with plastic and polythene waste, electronic waste is another concern that needs urgent mitigation before it plunges the country into a health crisis.
Arthur Shikanda, the Public Health Officer (PHO) in Kisumu County says this kind of waste has not been given the attention it deserves as people, offices and even institutions are currently stocking a lot of it in their premises.
Shikanda adds that some of it ends up in the dumpsites despite being non-biodegrade where children go, take and start playing with them without knowing the dangers they are exposing the themselves to.
He revealed that electronic waste otherwise dubbed as e-waste has capacity to be toxic than even the dreaded plastic bags.
Shikanda noted that equipment like computers, printers, television sets, radios and refrigerators among other contain heavy metals like beryllium, lead and mercury which have been identified to cause many health complications.
When poorly disposed, the metals, over time get drenched in the soil where they are picked-up by plants and sometimes swept into the water bodies where aquatic animals like fish consume them.
“Once the plant or the fish is consumed by man or an animal, the metal gets introduced in their bodies where in can lead to diseases like cancer,” Shikanda said.
Shikanda says that it is time the government and researchers swung into action and find alternative and safer ways which can be used to dispose e-waste.
He says the government should rein in so that it can bail its citizenry from the eminent calamity which if not contained will spiral out of control.
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